PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK : Jackson Admits Sore Shoulder Is Causing Him Some Problems

Padre center fielder Darrin Jackson, who has perplexed scouts this spring with his weak throwing arm, conceded Wednesday that he has been playing with a sore right shoulder.

“Yeah, it’s been bothering me pretty good,” he said. “I get it every spring, but it always bounced back. I just hope it comes back again like it always does.”

Although scouts believe Jackson’s sore shoulder may be partly responsible for hitting only one homer in 46 at-bats this spring, Jackson dismissed such talk.

“That has nothing to do with it,” he said. “I just went through a rough spell there. I’ll be all right. Believe me.”

Jackson, who sat out of Wednesday’s game, is batting .261 this spring but has a .355 average during the past 10 games.

Padre third baseman Craig Worthington did not play Wednesday because of a strained buttock muscle. He is expected to return to the lineup tonight.

The looming question, however is just how much longer he’ll remain in the Padres’ plans.

“I don’t know why they keep bringing up the (Gary) Sheffield thing,” he said. “We already got a third baseman. I just hope they stay patient, because once they see how I can hit, that’ll put an end to the talk.”

Worthington is hitting .207 this spring without an extra-base hit.

Joe Clark, the principal of Eastside High School in Patterson, N.J., and who inspired the movie, “Lean on Me,” requested an autographed bat Wednesday from Padre right fielder Tony Gwynn.

“I’ll give it to him,” Gwynn said, “as long as he doesn’t hit me with it.”

Clark, who recently wrote the book, “Laying Down the Law,” is in town for a seminar at Arizona Western College.”

Padre left fielder Jerald Clark continues to impress coaches, and has assured himself of a starting job. Clark drove in his ninth run of the spring, raised his batting average to .353, and made a brilliant running catch against the wall. “What more can you ask,” Padre Manager Greg Riddoch said. “He’s doing it all.” . . . Padre pitcher Jose Melendez visited the dentist for the third time this spring, and is due for a fourth visit today. “I don’t know what’s going on in there,” he said. “They’re filling cavities, putting on crowns, and everything. I just want them to be done by the time the season starts.” . . . Outfielder Jim Vatcher, who probably will make the team if the Padres trade Thomas Howard, drove in the game-winning run in the 10th inning after the Padres tied it with five runs in the ninth. . . . . The Padre players will meet with Don Fehr, chief of the Major League Players Assn., before the game today.